A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of this patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever.
1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to pet accessories, and more particularly, to pet communication devices, leashes and pet toys.
2. Description of the Related Art
While pets may be trained to obey commands given by humans, it is difficult at times for pets to clearly communicate with humans to express their needs. While some pets are trained to ring a bell or scratch a door when it is time to go out, a need exists for better ways to clearly indicate a pets needs to humans.
Pets do not have an understanding of safety issues. For example, being on a dark road or crossing a busy street is very dangerous for pets since the same danger perceived by humans is not understood by the pet. Therefore, alerting humans of the pet""s presence alone or with their owner on, for example, a roadway is advantageous. In this way, humans will be made aware of dangerous conditions for pets and take appropriate action.
Pets do not understand their nutritional needs. Vitamins and dietary supplements are often administered to pets by hiding these supplements in their food. The pets often detect these supplements and avoid eating the food. Therefore, a need exists for alternate ways of supplying nutritional supplements. These and other pet needs will be described in greater detail below along with pet accessories, which address these needs.
The present invention provides pet accessories, which communicate to humans, the needs of their pets. In one embodiment, a combination wind blocker and an indicator that the pet must go out is provided. In another embodiment, a device for determining the level of liquid in a pet dish is provided, which alerts people in the vicinity that the liquid levels are low. In still other embodiments, pet or human leashes are provided with a plurality of accessories. For example, a combination leash and radio is provided. Other leashes include powered lights and/or reflectors. The powered lights may include optical fibers woven into the leash. The reflectors may include heat stamped designs stamped onto the material of the leash. Other devices disclosed herein include teether designs, which include edible or ingestible portions. The present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to illustrative examples.
A device for indicating the presence of an electrical path on a pet accessory includes a first contact disposed on a probe, and a second contact disposed in a spaced apart arrangement relative to the first contact. An activation device is responsive to the presence of an electrical path or lack thereof between the first and second contacts. The activation device provides an indication of the state of the electrical path between the first and second contacts. The device preferably includes a pet dish and the probe extends into the dish to indicate a desired level for liquid in the dish, and the indication of state is performed by at least one of an audio message, a visual effect and a mechanical motion.
A liquid level indicator for a vessel, includes a probe extending to a first depth in the vessel. A first contact is disposed on the probe, wherein one at least one contact is located at the first depth such that when the vessel is filled with a liquid, an electrical connection is made between the first contact and a second contact until a level of the liquid falls below the first depth. An activation device is includes and provides an action when the level of liquid has fallen below the first depth. The vessel preferably includes a pet dish and a housing may include a shape of an animal.
A pet warning device, includes an elongated base unit configured and dimensioned to fit at a base of a doorway so as to prevent a draft. A deformable enclosure is removably attached to the base, and a switching device is disposed within the enclosure housing which permits a pet to depress the enclosure to trigger a warning indicator.
A restraining device, such as a belt or strap, includes a base material, an illuminating feature disposed in or on the base material, and an adjustment mechanism to adjust a fit of the fabric to conform to a wearer.
A chew toy includes a polymer matrix formed into a shape, one or more holes or divots formed in the matrix and at least one of a nutritional supplement, medication, and flavoring provided in the holes or divots.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.